Mega Millions: Winners in Kansas, Illinois, Maryland share jackpot

Three winning Mega Millions tickets in Kansas, Illinois and Maryland will share the record-setting $656 million jackpot.

WINNING NUMBERS: 2, 4, 23, 38, 46 and Mega Number 23

It was estimated to be a $640 million jackpot on Friday, but according to Maryland Lottery Director Stephen Martino, the revised amount was $656 million.

Illinois' winning ticket was sold in the small town of Red Bud, near St. Louis, and the winner used a quick pick to select the numbers, Illinois Lottery spokesman Mike Lang said.

The Maryland Lottery said it sold a winning ticket at a retail store in Baltimore County, while the Kansas winning ticket was purchased in the northeast part of the state, according to the Kansas Lottery website.

Each of the three winning tickets is worth about $218 million before taxes.

One of those tickets was sold at Bluebird Liquor, where people had waited in line for hours to buy a lottery ticket, believing the store to be lucky.

Americans spent nearly $1.5 billion for the chance to hit the jackpot. At mid-day in California, 5 million tickets were sold an hour. For every dollar spent on a Mega Millions ticket, 50 cents goes to the jackpot, 9 cents is kept by the lottery, 6 cents to the seller and 35 cents goes to the state.

"We're going to be pretty close to our all-time high as far as what we've given schools in any given year," said Alex Traverso of the California Lottery. That could equal 1,000 more teachers in the classroom.

Lottery officials placed the odds of winning Mega Millions at about 1 in 176 million. The retailer who sold the winning ticket receives a maximum $1-million bonus.